Building wall of hollow blocks



April 4, 1956 E; R. CORNEIL ETAL 2,742,777

BUILDING WALL OF HOLLOW BLOCKS I Filed April 14, 1952 INVENTDRS. fr'nesiR. Gar-nail and Carmen 6'. Cbrrzez'Z fiarney.

all construction costs.

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. 2,742,771 I BUILDING WALL on HOLLOW BLOCKS Ernest R. Corneil andCarmen S. Corneil, Stamford Centre, Ontario, Canada Application April14, 1952, Serial No. 282,218

1 Claim. (Cl. 72-42) This invention relates to building blocks andstructures made therefrom.

Concrete blocks are now commonly used in building construction but aresubject to many disadvantages. Although the weight of these blocks hasbeen greatly reduced by the use of porous aggregates and cellularconstruction it is still necessary to restrict the dimensions of theblocks to permit ease of handling. In the erection of walls from suchblocks the fitting of wooden or steel window frames requires more thanordinary skill. Furthermore differential expansion and contractionbetween the window frames and the concrete blocks requires that aspecial sealing device or material be inserted therebetween. Inaddition, other tradesmen are required to install the window sash andglass thus creating the over- Furthermore the conventional masonryblocks are not now widely used for partitions in industrial ofiicessince it has been found that composite steel, glass and pressed boardpartitions can be erected more rapidly, have good fire resistance andhigh salvage value.

. The object of this invention is to provide a composite building blockfor use in wall construction which is inexpensive, simple to erect, freefrom joint forming difliculties, and provides a large ratio of surfacearea to weight.

Another object of this invention is to provide a building block havingtherein opaque or transparent sheets or panels of glass or likematerial, the sheets or panels being readily replaceable.

A further object is to provide a wall constructed of such blocks whichmay be readily formed and which, if necessary, may be easily and quicklydismantled and the blocks recovered.

The invention will be described with reference to the accompanyingdrawings, in which- Figure 1 is a perspective view of a building blockin accordance with the invention with panels removed,

Figure 2 is a partial perspective section view of a panel retainingmeans;

Figure 3 is a partial perspective section view of a panel retainingmeans with part of a panel in place,

and a panel clamping or retaining means 4. The frame 2 preferably has asemi-circular groove 5 extending com- I pletely around its outside edgesurface 6. The inside edge surface 7 is provided with a flat rib 8located sub stantially midway between the side faces 9 of the frame 2.This rib provides a shoulder 10 on each side thereof. Surfaces 11parallel to the outside edge surface 6 extend from the shoulders 10 andjoin surfaces 12 which slope 2,742,777 Patented Apr. 24, 1956 Iceoutwardly therefrom to the side faces 9. It will be observed that themasonry frame 2 is completely symmetrical.

The panel clamping or retaining means 4 which may be of sheet metal,plastic or any like resilient material comprises a pair of parallelchannels 13 and 14 connected by a web 15. It will be observed that theweb 15 engages the rib 8 with the channels 13 and 14 each'engaging ashoulder 10. Each channel comprises a side wall 16 depending from theweb 15, a bottom wall 17 at an angle less than to the side Wall 16 and aside wall 18 inwardly inclined towards the side wall 16. The panels orsheets 3 may be pressed into the panel retaining clamps 4 and in suchoperation the side walls 16 are forced against the shoulders 10 and thebottom walls 17 against the surfaces 11 thus permitting the panel toslip over the side walls 18. As shown in Figure 3 the panel 3 is grippedand retained by the side walls 16 and the edge of side walls 18. A panel3 may be provided on either or both sides of the frame 2. If a panel isplaced in only one side of the frame a hoop or filler piece 19 is placedin the vacant channel section in order to hold the clamping means taut.

It will be observed that the panels may be of glass, transparent oropaque, as required, as for example, in partitions where light isrequired but yet transparency not desired. On the other hand the panelsmay be of any other sheet material 'such as plastic, plywood, metal orthe like. The blocks are of such size that one or more of same may bereadily employed as a window of any desired or standard size. The blocksmay be employed in the construction of a wall in the ordinary manner.However as shown-in Figures 4 and 5 a tube 20 of suitable size to fitthe grooves 5 is preferably used to position and retain the blocks thusgreatly simplifying the erection of a wall. Mortar 21 may or may not beused when tubes are used. The use of such not only simplifies the Wallerection thus reducing cost but provides a means of supporting a wallwhich may be used as a temporary readily removable partition and alsopermits a pivot point for curving a wall. of glass panels in the masonryframes provides for windows at any location in the Wall and that noextra window frames, sash or glass are required. The workmen requiredfor erecting the building blocks can complete the entire wall withoutadditional professional services. Furthermore it will be observed thatsince the channels are in sealing engagement with the panels 4 and theshoulders 10 by reason of the resilient nature of the clamping means, nospecial additional sealing means is required.

There is thus provided a composite building block which is much lighterin weight than the ordinary concrete block which may provide thenecessary Window area. and in which the panels whether of glass or othermaterial can be readily replaced.

What is claimed is:

A building wall comprising a plurality of building blocks of uniformsize in edge to edge. alignment, each said block comprising arectangular masonry frame having integral therewith a rib extendingcompletely around the inner edge surface and in spaced relation to theside surfaces thereof, a continuous preformed panel clamping strip ofresilient material freely seated upon said rib, said strip having a webportion engaging and extending longitudinally along the outermost edgesurface of the rib and a channel portion extending along eachlongitudinal side edge of said web portion, each said channel portionhaving an inner continuous side wall extending longi- It will also beobserved that the use References Cited in the file of this patent UNITEDSTATES PATENTS 1,542,564 Liese June 16, 1925 4 Shields May 11, 1926Hadjisky July 4, 1939 Livesay July 18, 1939 Duffy Oct. 17, 1939 FOREIGNPATENTS France May 27, 1930 Great Britain May 17, 1938 man

